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An email from Robyn in response to the Paul Keating Redfern Speech post:
Otto
Whether or not Keating penned the speech it is he who delivered it with profound empathy and sincerity as to its contents. Sad to say little progress has been made in the intervening years in re instating the first Australians to their rightful place in this very (materially) wealthy continent over which they had had stewardship for eons without any of the degradation the invaders (originally the detritus of the British Imperial hegemony) have visited upon the land in a little over 200 years.
For me it will always be the Australian equivalent of the Gettysburg address. Until this nation (all of its constituents) acknowledge the first Australians we will not have arrived as a nation.
Robyn
Too true.
Let's say that at some future date an alien race from another galaxy, far superior to us, colonises our planet and dispossesses the human race. Over time, the numbers dwindle, new diseases are brought by the aliens as well as new kinds of addictive, destructive drugs. Children are taken from us, never to be seen again. The aliens even engage in genocide towards humans in some areas. Attempts to stand up for our rights are brutally and quickly suppressed. We are called by derogatory and offensive names, the women are raped, the men are often jailed. Humans have higher rates of disease, illiteracy, jail sentences, and substance abuse, with lower life expectancies. Would it all be made okay by the aliens, much later, starting meetings and functions by acknowledging the humans who were the traditional owners of the land? It hardly seems apt.
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From Arthur on the Pirates for Wayne post, Wayne having requested an item on that topic:
Is Wayne thinking of his boyhood days?
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From David in respect of the same post:
Your daily about pirates reminded me of the inverse correlation between the extent of piracy and global warming
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A follow up from David on the Colombian Women’s Cycling Team uniform:
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Inspirational quote for the day:
Remember the 1989 flick with Charlie Sheen, Major League?
There is a character in there named Pedro Cerrano, a voodoo-practising Cuban refugee baseball player. All season Pedro has trouble with curve balls, which his opponents know and which they use to strike him out. All season Pedro prays to his idol, Jobu, for help, but the strike outs continue.
Another team member encourages Pedro to instead pray to Jesus Christ for help in dealing with curve balls. That team member is so dedicated to Jesus, and so hostile to Jobu, that he even urinates on Jobu when Pedro is absent.
During the final big game as Pedro goes to bat, knowing that his batting can either lose the game or help win it, he addresses Jobu:
“I'm pissed off now, Jobu. Look, I go to you. I stick up for you. You don't help me. Now I say 'Fuck you, Jobu,' I do it myself.”
And he does.
There's a lot of messages and deeper meanings in the above words and actions.
See it by clicking on:
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